Several months ago someone put the idea into my head that I should make some quiet books. This is one project that I've never really had the desire to do, but that little seed kept growing until one day I found myself drawing up the templates and then at JoAnn's buying the supplies.

It really was an easy project, but extremely time consuming (and I was making two at once.)

Here are the results:

Covers and cover page

Circus Monkey

The balloons velcro on and the wheel turns to reveal different colors.

Paint Pallet

The paint splotches velcro on and you can use the paint brush to pretend to paint everything in the quiet book! (The template for this page is now available in my book Quiet Book Patterns)

Season Tree and Barn

Snap on flowers for spring, green leaves for summer, and autumn leaves for fall--or take them all off for winter. The pieces can all be stored in the grass pocket below.

I love these little finger puppets that were inspired from Homemade by Jill. They're placed inside the barn . . .

to have a surprise when you open the doors. I love, LOVE this one. Thanks Jill for the fabulous idea.

Road Map

This is another one of my favorites. The road signs all have velcro on the back so they can be moved around. The garage is a little pocket that the car can park in. I planned on attaching the car with a shoelace--I even went out and bought some just for that reason--but last minute I decided to keep the car free. I'm hoping it doesn't get lost. It hasn't yet! (The template for this page is now available in my book Quiet Book Patterns)

Weaving Tennis Racket

The tennis racket strings can be woven to make a pattern.

Note Pocket and Mailbox

The blue pocket holds note paper perfect for all the little notes you need to send right away to the post office. The mailbox opens up and the flag can move up and down. I was going to add a little pocket for a pen but then I saw a vision of my son drawing all over this quiet book that I spent hours slaving away on, so pens will only be given to age appropriate children :)

Zipper Fun

I wasn't going to include any zippers in my quiet books, but don't all quiet books require a zipper page of some sort??? I finally decided I'd keep it simple but add three zippers to make it fun--although I'm not sure how quiet this page is actually going to be (zip, zip, zip) . . .

Counting Petals

This is another one of my favorites.

The petals velcro on and can be placed in the flower pot pocket. This one's for my daughter's book.

Here's a purple one I made for my son's book.

Ballet Shoe

This ballet slipper is perfect for practicing how to tie a bow. It seems like another quiet book requirement is a lacing and tying page. I almost didn't do one at all because I couldn't come up with anything I liked, but I was finally inspired to leave out the lacing part and just do the tying with this sweet little ballet slipper. (The template for this page is now available in my book Quiet Book Patterns)

Dress-up Doll

This page is exclusively for my daughters book.

Lots of fun little outfits to try on and a nice little pocket on the inside cover of the book to store them all in.

love it!!! I have a little girl about to turn 4 and I think she would love a ballet themed quiet book!!!! the ballet shoe is perfect inspiration. If I actually get my act together I'll show you the results!!!! Off to get felt!!!

Wow so beautiful! I have two partially done quiet books currently shelved I need to get back to finishing. I love your creativity for these! I am going to have to check back for your tutorials. Thank you for sharing!

Oh wow! I really want to make one of those, but for some reason I just haven't dedicated myself to it yet. Can't wait to see the supplies list and what not! Thanks so much, I can't believe you're just giving this info away for free...or are you?

This is darling, Amy! I'm with Amy Fitz...I'm not sure I could make something like this even if I tried (though, if you're going to post templates and instructions, maybe I will...maybe...). Really, though, how much would you charge to make one for me? :)

I LOVE these! Great job! I've done a few pages, but this gives me good ideas. Yours look sooooo perfect! I love the ease and look of felt, but I like to work with fabric and it takes SO much longer (all those raw edges)... I might just throw in some felt pages thanks to your inspiration!

I also love how clean and crisp your quiet book is compared to others I've seen. I definitely want to make one now that I've seen yours. I can't wait to see your supplies and how your felt looks so nice. interfacing? Tell me tell me!! :)

OH my goodness--this turned out absolutely darling!! What a fabulous book with some really unique pages! I love the 4 seasons pages--never seen those before. Very, very well done! I know how long these take, and I am impressed!!

I'm here from Hope Studios Tutorial Tuesday, and I LOVE this!!! It would be a perfect gift for my nephew's birthday next month. I'm going to follow your blog so I don't miss the templates and instructions :) Thank you so much for sharing!

Awesome quiet book!! I'm going to need to make one of these for my son soon!! Can't wait for your tute! :) I'd love for you to link up to my new linky party, Tute {Yourself} Tuesday.LittleEme.blogspot.com

First of all, great to see you on Craft Schooling Sunday, and second of all, this project is amazing (not unlike some of your previous ones!) I especially love that ballet slipper and the barn, wow, what lucky kids you've got! all the best!

Absolutely love your quiet book. When I was a little kid about 35 years ago, a boy in my church had a quiet/busy book that I would look at with envy every Sunday. Isn't that crazy? Thanks for the memory!

I ABSOLUTELY love this! I've been wanting to make one for awhile, but after seeing yours now I REALLY want to make one! Did you just use regular felt squares? And how did you hole punch the felt? Just curious, this is really fabulous.

This is by far the best looking quiet book I've seen out there! I've been wanting to make one for my son, and can't wait to get started on this one. Your pages look so much sturdier (if that's a word) than all the other quiet books I've seen. Can't wait for the details!!

This is just fabulous,beautiful! I hade an idea to make one quiet ook by my self but I have never make one.Now I'll have to try because your is so beautiful that inpires my!Tnx for sharing,I found you via Fun for kids friday.

Holy cow! This must have taken forever...but worth it right? I have always wanted to make one and I will be taking your instruction once you post them to make one for my 3yo. How very creative and cute! Fabulous job.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank You - this is on my list of projects to make in February (well starting it at least!) and I am so thankful for your detailed instructions. I am so excited to make two of these - one for each of my boys :-)

I was so excited to see this! I actually have the original book for these somewhere. Yours turned out so cute!

Mine is currently in progress. I'm using Pellon too. That is what my grandmother did when she made ours. Wondering what kind of pen you used. I've tried a couple fabric pens and haven't found the perfect one for my pellon. Please let me know.

Wow! You did a great job with this. I love the flower pot, the slipper and the dressup page, but it's all great and really creative. This was one of my favorite posts this week and I've linked up to it here: http://play2grow.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekly-favorites-for-january-23-2011.html I'm also a new follower of your blog.

This is beautiful! My son sometimes decided he doesn't need a nap and on those days the rule is he has to stay in his room and have quiet alone time. This would be great for those days! And for plane rides. Thanks for sharing!

I made 2 quiet books, one for each of my nephews, last summer, where were your pages when I was looking so hard for ideas? :) I love your quiet book!! wow! if you want, you can check mine out:http://valfrazier.blogspot.com/2011/03/quiet-book-finished-product.html

Great, now I have GUILT! Making a quiet book is on my list of things to finish (my son is now five). I will get mine done, I WILL! I may substitute in a few of your too-cute pages as well! Thanks for sharing!

I love your quiet book. I just finished a doll quiet book for my daughter. She helped me design the clothes for the girl. It is basically a doll house with a bathroom page and bedroom and park. It was fun to make. If you want to see it go to:http://www.auntsarahscreations.com.

Did you cut out all the felt pieces? The leaves look so nice. Also, did you hand stitch some of the felt onto your book? I was just looking at the doll. Maybe I just don't have as good a machine as you, or I don't know how to use mine that well yet, but the sewing you've done looks so perfect. How do you do it?

diplobrisco-Yes. I cut everything by hand (I'm crazy like that) but a good pair of sewing scissors makes it a lot easier. And I hate sewing by hand so everything is done with my machine(except the buttons). The trick is to sew VERY slowly and carefully.

Do you or should I say...would you make one to sell?? Like an etsy site? I do not have time to make one but that is great!! I'd buy one for sure!! Contact me at barbiedoly@aol.com If you do that! You did awesome.

Me again:) I was cutting out the leaves for the tree and it occurred to me, how did you sew the snaps on without the thread showing through on the other side? I am not using stiff felt but would it make a difference?

So happy to find this collection of patterns. I have been contemplating a couple Quiet Books for grandkids, and these are wonderful ideas! Thanks so much for your creativity and generousity! -Grandma J

It totally makes sense, thank you:) But what about the leaves and flowers? Those have snaps on them but I'm not sure how you sewed them on so nicely. Any secret? I am using stiff felt by the way. I'm following your advice to the T. I'll try and show pictures when I'm done:) Thank you for all your help!!

Looks beautiful - well done! Although I do think it'd be appropriate to give credit to the original source of most of those templates (since it's implied you made them all). Most of those came from an awesome book from the 80's or earlier... at least it looked that old when I used it. lol Yahoo for quite books and sanity when we need it. :)

Hi Natalie,I gathered my quiet book inspiration from many sources and ideas I've seen around and don't have an original source. I did draw up the templates for each page myself. If there is an "original" source for quiet books I'd love to see it.

Love your book! Me and a few friends have used your pellon idea. We are now ready to assemble but wondering how you hole punched them? I've practiced on my extra pellon with a hole punch and it is tough! Any tips???

Yes! Punching holes in pellon IS tough. I think I got bruises on my hands when I did mine. Sorry I don't have any tips for you. Beauty is pain, right? Maybe you could convince your husband to punch a few holes to give your hands a break. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the inspiration and wonderful templates. Your generosity has made it possible for me to get a serious jumpstart today while my 3 year old was in preschool. We are flying cross country in 2 weeks and I'm hoping to have this and one of your infant plane mats done by then. Thank you so much!!!!

Hi! I am taking your amazing templates and starting my own. I am not a sewer by any stretch of the imagination and I have a question. Did you make each page, then sew two pages together? If so, did you just do a top stitch? Am I making sense?

Jenny,Yes! I made each page and then sewed two pages together. Be sure to do your hole punches first though otherwise the pages will be too thick to get your hole punch through. I sewed around the pages at about 1/8 inch from the edge. Hope that answers your question.

What a wonderful book! I am new to using felt in my sewing so I was just going to wing it while making a quiet book for my little one, but your project has provided so much inspiration. Thank you for sharing!

Nearing completion of my book, much of which is made with these templates and your ideas. Thank you! I know my daughter and a friend (I'm making 2 books) will love these and will be great when we both have new babies to take care of and need a few minutes!

That tree page is TOUGH, but adorable. My hand sewing skills aren't great... the string for the snaps is definitely showing through. I saw in the comments above that your string showed through, but I'm wondering if you maybe took your pictures before you sewed your snaps on? I am finding that the transparent thread shows a little less than matching color thread for this.

Thank you so much for this great idea! I just started mine (almost sewing everything in for strenght) and it is looking simply wonderful. My problem is my toddler keeps snatching pieces as I am working (he kept taking the puzzle pieces when I was cutting everything else out). Here's hoping mine turns out as nice as yours.

First of all, thanks so much for sharing! Your book is FABULOUS! My daughter is turning one soon, so I started making a quiet book for her using most of your templates, along with some inspiration from other blogs. Anyway, the Season Tree is my favorite and as I'm cutting out the dainty little flowers and leaves, I started wondering how the felt is holding up to little hands yanking them off the page. I'm wondering if I should've cut these out of the stiff felt to make them a little more sturdy? Thanks again for helping the "artistically challenged" of us and posting your templates!!!

Hi, Amy! I am so excited to start my quiet book using your directions and templates! A few questions: 1. For the monkey - did you transfer the design of the monkey to dark brown, light brown, and white felt and then cut out what pieces you needed from each? 2. Where did the pictures for the road signs and car come from? If they are colored pictures, did you transfer them onto felt using the transfer paper and the color transfers as well? 3. I know this question has been asked already, but I'm still not understanding how your sewing of the Velcro and snaps doesn't show through on the top side of the leaves, puzzle pieces, flower petals, etc. What am I missing? I understand that the sewing is covered up on the back side of the page because two pages are sewn together. Lastly, I'm assuming that the "fusible webbing" is the "Wonder Under" on the supply list? Thanks so much for your inspiration and help!

1&2. The monkey and road sighs can be found on the template page (http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2011/01/quiet-book-templates.html?showComment=1347308379259#c5854154040354457714). You simply print it out in color on transfer paper and iron it on using the instructions with the transfer paper you buy. 3. The velcro is the stick on kind, and with the snaps you can see the thread, just maybe not in my pictures.4. Fusible webbing and wonder under are the same thing.

What a cute Quiet Book! I made two for my daughters many years ago, one for my older granddaughter 2 years ago, and am working on my second granddaughter's. It's always good to see others' creativity and get a new idea or two.

I found it interesting that you questioned the "quietness" of the zipper page but use Velcro on most of the pages. Seems like Velcro would make more noise than zippers.

Whew! Just finishing up 2 quiet books! Used your pages as a guide but also had a pattern that I had traced when my son was about a year old. He is now 31! Never got around to doing it. Now I did one for his daughter and one for another granddaughter. I still need to finish the cover and it will be done! You were soooooo right when you said that it was time-consuming!!! Thanks for your inspiration and your fantastic blog!

What a wonderful quiet book! I've been contemplating what to use as the base (cotton fabric with bating in the middle or felt) but you've thrown me with the Pellan! Did you just sew two pages back to back or is there some sort of bating in the middle?

We are leaving on a 7day road trip next week and I'm so sorry I only found your blog now!! But maybe I can squeeze in some time to make a couple of pages for my two kids (3 and 6)!! My daughter can't get enough of dress-up dolls. My boy (3) likes to match things & find places for things so I'll do something for him too. THANKS!!! I'm also following now!

I saw that you didn't include a doll for boys, but I bet a little boy would like something like a superhero felt doll! Thanks for all the great inspiration; I don't have kids yet but am saving ideas for when I do! :)

You did an amazing job. That was tons of work and it looks awesome. Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday at http://happyandblessedhome.com/category/family-fun/ Please stop by this Friday to see if your post was featured.Best Wishes, Monicahttp://HappyandBlessedHome.com

SO Super cute ! my mom used to sew these yrs ago.. she had a clothes line with clothes in the 'basket' to hang on the line w/Velcro.a train with small animals that were removable.balloons for counting.. each on it's own string .. balloons attached with snaps.a page to tie up shoes.. one with buttons , zipper & snaps..she had a shape matching page too..

I love your quiet book page! It’s so detailed and creative! I recently made quiet books for my kids and drew a bit of inspiration from yours and linked it on my blog, you can check it out here: http://babesindeutschland.com/2013/08/02/grays-felt-book/Thanks for the inspiration!

Please only allow your children to play with age appropriate toys and activities. If your child is young enough that they are still putting objects in their mouths then this activity may not be suitable for them. As with any toy parental judgement must be used.

hi there,. just wondering what you used to adhere the felt when you didn't sew. like the flower with the eight petals -- you can't see sewing on the petals to attach the velcro -- and i want to know what you used.